Two months pass by peacefully: Joshua comes and goes from the school while Jihoon works in his studio, routinely inviting Seungcheol over for recording sessions. The two of them fall into a routine they might have had before they married, but there are noticeable changes that Joshua wouldn’t have noticed if Seungcheol hadn’t pointed them out.

There are minor differences: they go to bed at the same time, they greet and say bye to each other when one comes in or leaves the condo, they split the chores and responsibilities, and so forth. It’s really nothing special; it’s something that most roommates would do to ensure that they don’t kill each other. If that was the extent of their interaction, Joshua would go crazy overthinking his relationship with Jihoon, and their marriage would be hell to live through. But thankfully, Jihoon doesn’t want that either.

They eat dinner together, every night. Apparently Jihoon’s terrible at both cooking and eating regular meals, so Joshua makes use of whatever cooking skills he developed after college and makes them a decent dinner every night. Sometimes Jihoon’s too busy in the studio to come out before dinner, but often Jihoon makes time to help him prep or set the table or do something outside of the studio so that Joshua doesn’t feel alone. It’s a nice and subtle gesture, one that Joshua’s learning is Jihoon’s way of reminding him that he’s not alone in this relationship. Dinner with Jihoon has become comfortable and relaxed; some nights they make small talk about work, other nights they discuss deeper things like dreams for life and their childhood.

Joshua tells Jihoon about all his failed dates and their shallow perceptions of him, about the many women who had hit on him based solely on said shallow perceptions, and about everything that made him more than just a prince. He tells him his reasonings for agreeing to the arranged marriage, and how happy his grandparents are, now that they can finally relax and enjoy their retirement and their family.

He learns that Jihoon had to fight his family to major in music, and he had almost completely lost, until his uncle proposed he do a music minor and a business major, on the grounds that music would be his side project, not his career. He learns that Jihoon’s known for mainly working with two people, Seungcheol being one of them, but that he would compose for other singers and rappers, though not as often. He learns that Jihoon has a wonderful singing voice, but he refuses to use his voice for any of his songs because he wants to focus on producing and he doesn’t want to be a singer.

More importantly, he learns that Jihoon had a bad childhood. His family was like any other chaebol family, almost cartoonishly like the ones Joshua’s seen from Korean dramas. He was groomed to be the perfect heir, despite his obvious distaste for business. He had to grapple for power and authority with his brothers and cousins, and he had watched his grandfather disown family members for rebellion or scandals. Jihoon had tried to get himself disowned: switching his major to music with a business minor (only because the minor would help his music career), letting himself get caught out with his boyfriend at the time, refusing to comply with his family’s requests, and so forth. His grandfather had ignored all of these incidents, seeing the potential Jihoon had and trying to find ways to exploit it, long after Jihoon made his name as a producer. The only reason he had to marry Joshua in the first place was because his grandfather had made serious threats to destroy the carefully crafted career Jihoon had made not only for himself, but for his friends. The promise of leaving the family was the only benefit Jihoon had managed to wrangle out of this deal, thanks to Joshua’s grandfather’s intervention.

Hearing what Jihoon has gone through makes Joshua’s heart ache. He suddenly feels really grateful for his almost too-suburban family, who raised him to be the gentlemen people assumes he embodies in its entirety, who love him unconditionally, gay or otherwise, who insist he comes over for dinner at least once a month. Even though he’s still upset at his grandfather for pushing him into this arranged marriage, he’s happy he can offer Jihoon some sanctuary from an overbearing, clinical family. He doesn’t care about Jihoon’s family--doesn’t even know who they are, really--but he cares about Jihoon, and that’s all that matters.

One day, when Joshua gets home from school, he hears the studio door open, and Jihoon suddenly appears in the hallway. Jihoon’s never greeted him when he first came back home, so he’s a little startled. The vaguely concerned look on his face (which means he’s really concerned) is what’s more worrying. “Jihoon...?”

“Seungcheol wants to do a inter-friend group meeting or something,” he says rather tersely, though Joshua knows him well enough by now to know that he’s not actually as upset as he comes off. “Have your friends meet my friends.”

“That sounds... good, I guess,” Joshua stammers, trying to figure out who he would invite. He wasn’t the most social, preferring to have a few close friends than several who weren’t as close. Jeonghan, definitely, but beyond that, he wasn’t sure. He’d probably invite Wonwoo, considering he was his closest work friend. Junhui? Not a chance. He can barely handle him in school, he doesn’t want to see him outside of school. “How many people?”

“Probably just Seungcheol and Soonyoung, the other guy I work with,” Jihoon replies. “I don’t have that many friends, and even if I did, I wouldn’t want all of them in my house.”

“True,” Joshua laughs. “I’ll probably invite Jeonghan and Wonwoo. I work with them too--well, I work with Wonwoo, since he teaches underclassman English, but Jeonghan and I started working together at the same time, and we became close friends.”

“That sounds good,” Jihoon comments, already starting to shuffle back to the studio. He stops at the doorway to turn back and say, “I’m assuming weekends work best for you?”

“Definitely,” Joshua replies. “Is that fine with your friends?”

“I’ll make sure it’s fine.” Not quite the response most people would give, but Jihoon’s never not passive aggressive. “I’m feeling like ordering pizza today, is that okay with you?”

“I’m always down for pizza,” Joshua agrees eagerly. “Pepperoni okay?”

“Pepperoni’s always okay,” Jihoon’s responding grin is warm and welcoming, a drastic change from the beginning of their marriage. They’ve become friends, driven together by unnatural circumstances, but they’ve still managed to overcome these outside factors and find a common ground, which is surprisingly large. It makes Joshua happy and relieved, like he can finally breathe.

“Okay, I’ll let you know when it comes,” he informs the younger, who nods and disappears into the studio.

As soon as the studio door closes, Joshua pulls out his phone and calls Jeonghan, wanting to get this resolved as soon as possible.

“Shua!” Jeonghan’s cheery voice greets him as soon as he picks up. “What can I do for you, dear friend of mine?”

He can’t help but smile at his friend’s antics. “Hello, Jeonghan,” he chuckles. “I was wondering if you were free two Saturdays from now, around 6 PM.”

“Aw, Shua, are you asking me on a date? How sweet!” Jeonghan coos.

Joshua snorts as he sits on the couch with his laptop, opening up the website of the pizza place they like. “Pretty sure my husband would dislike that on principle,” he informs him. “And no, it’s not a date. Jihoon wants to do a ‘meet-the-friends’ gathering and pretty much told me to organize it because his friends apparently have a flexible enough schedule.”

“Ah, the life of entertainers,” Jeonghan sighs dramatically. “Luckily, though, I’m free next weekend. I will humbly accept your invitation to accompany you as your dearest and only friend to this dinner.”

“Don’t be so full of yourself, you’re not the only one going,” Joshua retorts as he orders the pizza. “I’m gonna invite Wonwoo too.”

He hears a gasp through the receiver, and Jeonghan’s affronted voice saying, “How could you? I thought I was your only friend?”

“Be grateful I’m inviting Wonwoo instead of Junhui,” Joshua threatens.

“You wouldn’t invite Junhui. You can barely handle him in school as it is,” Jeonghan replies lazily, easily calling his bluff. “But fine, I guess I can coexist in the same space as the emotionless yet not robotic human.”

He rolls his eyes. “You’re hilarious,” he says flatly. “Alright, I gotta go do some grading.”

“Aw, leaving so soon?”

“Yeah, can’t handle you in large doses either,” Joshua quips. “Alright, bye!”

“Wait, Shu--” He doesn’t let him finish, hanging up and going to get his briefcase to start working.

The pizza delivery guy knocks on the door right as Joshua finishes grading, so he gets the door, paying the delivery guy and setting the pizza box down on the table before heading towards the studio, knocking on the door just hard enough to be heard. “Jihoon-ah? Pizza’s here.”

There’s a soft scramble, and then the door flies open, and Joshua finds himself almost two inches from Jihoon, who apparently hadn’t expected Joshua to stay by the door.

They meet each other’s eyes, and it’s like the door opened to a campfire: the rush of warmth that engulfs Joshua’s body is overwhelming and all-encompassing, and it’s simultaneously too much and not enough as it is.

“Uh...” Joshua stammers, trying to find something to say to fill the awkward silence, “you hungry?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon replies, not quite meeting Joshua’s eyes.

He suddenly realizes that he’s blocking Jihoon in the doorway, so he steps back and lets Jihoon walk past him towards the kitchen. He doesn’t know what to make of that awkward moment, so he decides to pretend it never happened. He grabs two sodas and seats himself at the dinner table as Jihoon gets two paper plates of pizza and sets them down.

“So, I’ve invited one of my friends, Jeonghan over at 6 PM two Saturdays from now. I’ll invite the other one on Monday,” Joshua starts. “Does that sound good to you?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon shrugs, taking a huge bite of pizza. “I’ll tell Seungcheol and Soonyoung.”

“We should figure out some of the logistics of this get together,” he says. “Like, what food should we make? What should we do?”

“I’m all for takeout,” Jihoon suggests. “Soonyoung and Seungcheol won’t mind. Will yours?”

Joshua shrugs. “Jeonghan might expect something homemade, but that might be his expectation of domesticity or something along those lines.”

The younger chuckles. “I mean, we are married. We’re supposed to have some semblance of order in our lives.”

“Whoever said that is a liar,” Joshua retorts. “Don’t worry, I’ll make some hotteok for dessert, Jeonghan can deal.”

Jihoon sits up straight. “You know how to make hotteok?” He demands, a strange look in his eyes.

“Uh... yes?”

He sighs wistfully. “It’s been so long since I’ve had homemade Korean cuisine. LA has a lot of good Korean places, but I, uh, haven’t had time to visit them. I’ve tried to make them myself, but...” he shoots Joshua a wry smile, “cooking’s never been my thing.”

Joshua laughs softly, hiding his smile behind a hand. “Well, if you want, I can cook more Korean food at home. My parents taught me a lot of recipes growing up.”

“Don’t feel obligated to, I’ve lived here long enough to get used to it,” Jihoon waves a hand dismissively. “I just... forgot how much I missed Korean food.”

“I mean, Jeonghan and Wonwoo are Korean, and so are Seungcheol and presumably Soonyoung, given his name,” Joshua points out. “Maybe we can order Korean takeout and have a Korean food party.”

Jihoon doesn’t respond for a few moments. When Joshua looks over, he sees a gentle smile on the younger’s face directed at him, and it makes the campfire come back. “That sounds nice. We should do that.”

It takes all of Joshua’s effort not to stammer when he replies, “Okay then.”

He has no idea what’s going on, and he’s not quite sure he wants to find out.

That Monday, after the English department meeting ends, Joshua pulls Wonwoo aside. “Wonwoo, can I talk to you?”

“Sure,” he agrees readily, stepping to his side and letting the other teachers file past them out of the room. “Is it about the curriculum?”

“No, it’s a little more personal than that,” Joshua said. “Are you free two Saturdays from now, in the evening?”

Wonwoo thinks for a few moments before he nods. “Yeah, I should be free. My students submit their essays this week, so next week I won’t be locking myself in my apartment to get all these essays graded that weekend.”

Joshua chuckles. “I understand the feeling. Well, I’m having a... get together at 6 that day with Jeonghan and... some of my husband’s friends that day, if you’d like to come.” He can’t hold back the blush on his cheeks. It’s the first time he’s admitted to someone other than Jeonghan that he’s married--he still hides his wedding ring, because he does not want his overly perceptive students to notice--and he still feels the lingering after effects of the awkwardness he felt when he first got married.

“Husband?” Wonwoo asks, looking surprised, glancing down at Joshua’s bare hands. “When did you get married?”

“About two months ago. It was a private thing, I don’t wear my ring to work because I don’t want the students to know,” Joshua explains.

“Ah,” he nods in understanding. “Well, I would definitely like to go to the party. Just send me the address.”

“Great, I’ll see you there,” Joshua smiled.

“Ooh, where are you two going? Can I come?” A smooth voice called. The two turned to see Junhui, the dance teacher, at the doorway.

“The Fine Arts meeting isn’t in this room, Junhui,” Joshua says politely.

“No, of course not,” Junhui laughs, as if the idea of it was ridiculous. “No, I was just heading for the teacher’s lounge when I overheard you two talking. I didn’t know you two were so... close,” he teases.

“We share a lot in common, Junhui,” Joshua explains patiently, “and we talk a lot about our classes and curriculum. It’s natural to become friends.”

“Yes, and it’s natural for me to tease my students, yet everyone else looks down on me for it,” Junhui rolls his eyes.

Wonwoo shakes his head and replies, “Just be careful, Junhui. Some students can’t handle your teasing, and some will take it too far. That’s why everyone looks down on you. You’re playing with fire in your own workplace.”

“How poetic,” Junhui says appreciatively. “I’m flattered you care so much, Wonwoo, but don’t worry, I know the limits. That’s why I go clubbing every weekend.” With a sway of his hips, he saunters away.

Wonwoo sighs. “Sometimes, I wonder how a student hasn’t reported him yet.”

Joshua doesn’t answer at first, too preoccupied with staring at the space where Junhui had been. “I’m so glad Jeonghan isn’t quite that extreme.”

“The biology teacher?” Wonwoo asks. “I had a few students asking me if you were dating him. You must have been very harsh with them if they went to me for details.”

He chuckles and shakes his head. “It was nothing. Jeonghan came to my classroom for lunch, my students asked why, Jeonghan played around with them, they thought I was dating, and I got annoyed.”

“It must be annoying to have students meddling in your personal life,” Wonwoo says understandingly. “How did your husband react?”

Joshua doesn’t know how to answer. Finally he admits, “I haven’t told him yet, but I’m sure he would understand after meeting Jeonghan.”

“If you say so,” Wonwoo says simply.

Joshua texts Jihoon, letting him know that both of his friends are coming before his next class starts.

When the lunch bell rings, one of Joshua’s classmates comes to see him, Minghao Xu, a transfer student from China. His English is still rough around the edges, so he often asks Joshua for help with phrasing his essays.

“Mr. Hong?”

“Hello Minghao, come in and get situated, and I’ll be with you in a moment,” Joshua greets as he cleans the board. “Did you eat lunch?”

“Yes, Mr. Hong,” Minghao chirps, sounding more like a child than a teenager. Joshua knows it’s the slight unfamiliarity the student has with the language, but it doesn’t stop him from finding it endearing.

Finally, Joshua sets the eraser down and takes the seat next to Minghao. “Okay, show me what you have so far.”

“So, what you’re trying to say is that nature changes with the character. The more deceitful he becomes, the worse the weather becomes,” Joshua asks.

Minghao nods gratefully. “Yes, how do I write it?”

Joshua reads over the words again, carefully dissecting and reassembling sentences to try and find a clearer way for Minghao to get his point across. “Well, you sort of ramble, so maybe--”

“Joshua?” Joshua starts, turning towards the voice to find Jihoon at the door, holding two takeout bags.

“Jihoon?” He calls, not completely sure if Jihoon’s really there or not. “What are you doing here?”

“I figured since you make me lunch all the time, I should return the favor,” Jihoon replies, stepping hesitantly inside the classroom. “Is now a bad time?”

Yes, it kind of is, but Joshua isn’t sure if Jihoon would come again another day or if he would feel too embarrassed to do it again, so he says, “Not at all, Jihoon. Just sit down, and once I’m done with Minghao I’ll come over.”

“Okay.” If the blush is anything to go by (which it is) Jihoon is a little embarrassed, but still he makes his way over to Joshua’s desk and sets the takeout bags on the desk.

Joshua works with Minghao for a few more minutes before letting him go back to his friends. He stands up and walks over to Jihoon, who’s listening intently to something on his phone, looking uncomfortable in Joshua’s classroom. “Hey,” he says softly, nudging Jihoon, who starts, pulling his earphones out. “You ready?”

“I’m always ready to eat,” Jihoon retorts easily, making the two of them laugh. Joshua pulls a chair to the desk, and watches as Jihoon reveals carton after carton of Chinese food.

“This looks amazing, Jihoon-ah,” Joshua says once Jihoon empties the bag. “You really didn’t have to do all this.”

His husband shrugs. “It’s not fair for you to cook all our meals,” he states.

“I don’t mind,” Joshua tells him.

“I do,” Jihoon says. Joshua knows he won’t back down, so he just concedes and starts eating. After a few moments, he asks, “So did you ask your friend if he’s coming?”

“Yeah, Wonwoo’s coming,” Joshua nods. “I also found a really good Korean place and I have a basic list of food to buy, but I thought I’d run it by you, in case any of them are allergic or won’t eat anything on the list.” He rifles through his phone until he finds the list, and he hands his phone over to his husband.

Jihoon continues to eat as he looks through the list. Joshua can hear students outside, whispering about one thing or another, but he ignores it in favor of the peace Jihoon brings with him.

“There’s no seafood on here,” he says finally.

“Wonwoo hates seafood,” Joshua shrugs. “I can add some dishes with seafood though if you want.”

“Nah, it’s all good. Just curious,” Jihoon replies, handing the phone back. “List looks good.”

“Thanks, I tried my best,” he jokes. There’s a pause, and then he asks, “Why did you come here?”

Jihoon shot him a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“I know you always want to repay people, but you already do,” he elaborates. “You keep me company while I make dinner. You wash the dishes. If you wanted to return the favor, you already have. I hate doing the dishes.”

“I don’t know,” Jihoon looks down at his food. “I just... feel like there’s more I could be doing.”

Joshua feels his heart soften. “You don’t have to worry about it, Jihoon. I know our marriage is unconventional, but we’re making it work,” he says softly, reaching out to pat his shoulder comfortingly. “If I’m feeling upset about anything, I’ll let you know, okay?”

Jihoon nods, giving Joshua another small smile that makes Joshua’s chest swell. The bell rings, startling the two. “Do you have a class now?” Jihoon asks.

He shakes his head. “No, I have a free period after lunch today. We can still talk, if you want.”

“I’d like that,” Jihoon replies. “Work has been so stressful lately.”

“A difficult song?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “You know how exclusive I am in the music world?”

Joshua nods. “You don’t work with a lot of people,” he says. “You do some remixes, but you really only consistently make original music for Seungcheol or Soonyoung.”

“Well, there’s this diva singer who thinks she can get me to write her a song, and her company’s been hounding me for the past week,” Jihoon sighs. “I finally reported it to my company this morning, and they told me to take a break while they handle it.”

“Will you?” Jihoon’s a workaholic: if he can work, he will, and he will go to extreme lengths to get his work done. He’s had to check up on Jihoon and persuade him to eat or sleep or take a five minute break a few times before. It’s another reason why Joshua’s so confused by Jihoon’s surprise visit.

One corner of Jihoon’s lips quirk up, and Joshua’s entranced by it for a moment before catching himself and turning his attention away. “I’ll try, this time. I have two days off, maybe I’ll catch up on sleep.”

“Of course you would,” Joshua jokes. “That’s all you do, sleep and work.”

“You know me,” Jihoon grins. “If it weren’t for you, I’d be living off takeout and letting my house turn into a pigsty.”

“I knew your house was too clean,” he teases. “You hired a cleaner before I moved in, didn’t you?”

The younger shrugs. “Guilty as charged,” he replies unashamedly, shooting Joshua a wide grin.

Joshua feels light, like he’s not quite connected to Earth anymore. It’s a brief and fleeting moment before he comes back to reality, but he knows it’s tied to the smiling man in front of him.

The day of the inter-friend party--or “the absolute idiot Seungcheol thinks we need this stupid ing party to bring together both sides of a married couple because he’s actually the most hopeless romantic on the face of this planet” (Jihoon’s words, not his)--comes before Joshua can even blink. He’s been so busy, with essays due and lesson plans to create and writing college recommendation letters and preparing his kids for college-level classes that the party almost snuck up on him. Thankfully he had ordered everything in advanced, and he had all the ingredients to make the hotteok, so he didn’t have much to worry about other than his friends meeting Jihoon’s.

Jihoon is only taking the afternoon off, so while Jihoon makes up for his two days off the week before, Joshua is left in the kitchen to freak out. Does he have enough plates? Is there enough seats? Should they play music? What music should they play? Is the house clean enough? Should he pick out some movies? What should they watch? Korean dramas? He hasn’t watched one of those in a while. Do they even like those kinds of dramas?

He desperately wants everything to go well. He gets along well with Jihoon, but their friends might not, and neither of them are equipped to deal with social problems, and if they don’t get along this evening would be a disaster.

“Stop stressing,” Jihoon says suddenly, placing his hands on Joshua’s shoulders.

Joshua nearly falls off the couch when he jumps, not expecting his husband to be behind him. “Yah, Lee Jihoon! Make more noise next time!”

Jihoon laughs loudly, pulling his hands away to seal clap. “Well, next time don’t get lost in your head and you’ll hear me. I was asking if I could help you with anything,” he says when he calms down

“Ah, no, I think everything’s settled,” Joshua sighs. “I’m just worried things won’t work out.”

His husband nods understandingly, moving around the sofa to sit next to him. “Don’t worry,” he says softly. “Seungcheol and Soonyoung are really sociable, so we don’t have to worry about anything. They could get along with a brick wall if they really wanted to.”

Joshua laughs lightly, sliding down the sofa into a more comfortable position. On the way down, his head makes contact with Jihoon’s shoulder, and immediately he jolts upright. “Shoot, sorry,” he apologizes. Inside, he’s a little unapologetic: that light, almost high feeling had come back when his head laid on Jihoon’s shoulder, and he’s starting to get addicted.

Jihoon shakes his head, his cheeks red. “No, it’s okay. You were stressed, right? You can... you can rest a bit if you want.”

Almost too eagerly, Joshua slides back down again, resting his head on the younger’s shoulder. The light high feeling comes back alongside a strange sense of comfort. It’s more than just enjoying the physical closeness of a friend; the fact that it’s Jihoon makes it different somehow. It’s incredibly confusing, but Joshua pushes it down in favor of enjoying the feel of Jihoon so close to him while he can.

Joshua must have tired himself out because he wakes up on the couch, disoriented and groggy. There’s a wool blanket draped over his body, and he can hear someone humming in the background. There’s a tantalizing smell in the air that reminds him of home, and he can hear his stomach grumble lightly in response.

The humming stops when Joshua finally decides to sit up, rubbing blearily at his eyes. “You’re awake,” Jihoon says casually. “I thought I would have to wake you.”

Finding his phone, Joshua checks the time. 5:13. “I’m gonna shower really quickly, then I’ll help you out.”

“Okay,” his husband mocks, “enjoy your ‘quick’ shower.” He can almost hear the air quotes Jihoon’s surely making.

“You !” Joshua replies teasingly, rushing into the bedroom as Jihoon cackles.

Wonwoo’s the first one to arrive, promptly at 6:00. He gives Joshua an adorably awkward smile when he answers the door. “Sorry I’m on time.”

Joshua laughs. “That has to be one of the strangest sentences I’ve ever heard,” he says plainly, opening the door wider. “Come in, come in.”

“You have a nice place,” Wonwoo comments as Joshua leads him to the back of the condo.

“Thank you,” Jihoon smiles politely when the two of them reach the living room. “The neighborhood’s the best part. Nice and quiet.” He stands and walks over to Wonwoo.

“Wonwoo, this is my husband, Jihoon. Jihoon, this is Wonwoo, the English teacher I work with.”

“Nice to meet you, Wonwoo-sshi,” Jihoon bows, which Wonwoo reciprocates.

“I think you two are the same age,” Joshua says suddenly, remembering how important age is in Korea. “Both 96-liners, right?” They both nod. “Then you guys are same-age friends!”

Jihoon smirks. “You’re too happy about this, hyung. Also, it’s really strange to hear you say that in English.”

Just to get back at him, Joshua replies in Korean, “Well, this is a Korean party, so why don’t we all just speak in Korean from now on?”

“Okay, hyung,” Wonwoo shrugs, sitting down on the couch. “I didn’t realize this was a Korean party.”

“Yeah, well, everyone’s Korean,” Joshua says. The doorbell rings again, so he makes his way to the door.

It’s Seungcheol with who must presumably be Soonyoung. He has vibrant red-orange hair and an easy grin on his face that makes his eyes almost disappear. He’s endearing, and it makes Joshua wonder why Jihoon surrounds himself with so many cheery people when he himself is so grumpy (then again, it also kind of makes sense).“You must be Joshua! I’m Soonyoung!” He greets exuberantly, in slightly accented English.

“I am, nice to meet you,” Joshua smiles. “Please, come in.”

The two of them walk into the condo, take a deep breath, and grin. “Is that Korean food I smell?” Seungcheol asks eagerly.

“Yeah, we’re having a Korean party,” he says, switching back into Korean. “Did Jihoon not tell you?”

“No,” Soonyoung shakes his head, “but he usually does that.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes when he sees Seungcheol and Soonyoung. “Talking about me again?” He drawls.

“Always,” Seungcheol replies. “And this is...” he trails off, looking at Wonwoo.

“Jeon Wonwoo,” the teacher says. “Born in 1996.”

Joshua doesn’t hear the rest of their introductions when there’s a knock on the door. He turns back to open the door to reveal Jeonghan, looking more relaxed than he is at school. “Of course you’d be the one to ignore the doorbell,” he comments.

“Well, I have two working hands, why would I need a doorbell?” Jeonghan teases as he walks in. “Wow, is this your place, Joshua?”

“No, I’ve been trespassing this entire time,” he replies, deadpan, making his friend laugh. “Well, you’re the last one here, so we can eat now. Oh, right, I forgot to tell you that it’s a Korean party, so we’re only speaking in Korean.”

“Oh, everyone speaks Korean?” Jeonghan asks, delighted. “How the did that happen?”

Joshua shrugs. “Couldn’t tell you,” he says. “Everyone, this is Jeonghan. Jeonghan, this is Seungcheol, Soonyoung, and Jihoon. You know Wonwoo.”

“Which one’s your husband, again?” Jeonghan asks bluntly. “No one knows what Woozi looks like.”

Jihoon raises his hand lazily. “I’m Woozi. Those two are the artists I record with, S.Coups and Hoshi.”

“Ah,” Jeonghan says in understanding. “You two are the ones my students don’t shut up about. They love your guys’ music.”

“Thank you,” the three of them chorus in unison before giving each other accusing looks, as if trying to blame each other for what just happened.

Joshua hides his smile behind his hand. Wonwoo snorts quietly. Jeonghan, though, just throws his head back and laughs loudly. Seungcheol and Soonyoung join in, while Wonwoo, Jihoon and Joshua share amused looks.

Finally, when everyone calms down, Joshua gestures to the food Jihoon set up earlier. “Well, shall we eat?”

Joshua looks around the table in surprise and happiness, seeing all the happy faces and hearing lighthearted, friendly conversations. This party had turned out better than either he had thought.

Jihoon had been right in saying that Seungcheol and Soonyoung were good socializers. They easily bring Wonwoo out of his shell, teasing him whenever he makes a bad pun or lame joke. Soon, they’re joking like old friends, freely making fun of each other at any given moment. It’s a far cry from the icy persona Wonwoo has in school that Joshua can’t help but smile. Jihoon looks remarkably relaxed, watching everyone around him have warm conversations with a smile from his seat. Joshua can understand the feeling: he feels incredibly happy watching his friends get along with his husband’s friends.

The surprising thing, though, is Jeonghan. More specifically, Jeonghan and Seungcheol. They had hit it off almost immediately, and it kept progressing to the point where Jeonghan and Seungcheol were almost exclusively talking to each other and tuning everyone else out. It’s earned the pair a few strange looks from both Wonwoo and Soonyoung, while Joshua and Jihoon keep exchanging bemused looks.

When everyone leaves, it’s the first thing that comes to mind when he turns to Jihoon. “What is up with Jeonghan and Seungcheol?” He asks.

The younger shrugs. “Couldn’t tell you. I’ve never seen Seungcheol like that.”

He shakes his head. “Me neither. I would say it’s like love at first sight, but that doesn’t exist.”

Jihoon raises an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you were a cynic, Joshua,” he comments.

“Less cynical, more realistic,” he replies, shrugging. “You can’t fall in love at first sight. You can feel chemistry, a superficial attraction, but not genuine love. You don’t know enough about a person to fall in love at first sight.”

He hears Jihoon hum, in understanding or disbelief, he’s not sure. “Makes sense. So what do you think is up with Jeonghan and Seungcheol? It’s not quite superficial anymore, considering they talked the entire night.”

Joshua sighs. “Who knows anymore. I just get the feeling that we’re gonna get dragged into this.”